Spring Book Preview: The Oral History of Nirvana, Willie Nelson’s Memoir and More

Fend off March chills and April showe...

Fend off March chills and April showers with these riveting reads for music obsessives, from a Nirvana oral history to memoirs by Willie Nelson and Scarface.

W.W. Norton & Co.

002

009

Beale Street Dynasty by Preston Laute...

Beale Street Dynasty by Preston Lauterbach (W.W. Norton & Co., March 30) Memphis’ Beale Street is now known for tourist traps, but this book takes it back to the days of “whorehouses and bullet holes.” Some will be disappointed the story ends before Elvis, but Dynasty makes the case that Beale’s early years are the key period.

Viking

003

009

Billie Holiday: The Musician And The ...

Billie Holiday: The Musician And The Myth by John Szwed (Viking, March 31) The late singer’s 100th birthday (April 7) brings a bio by the author of acclaimed books about Miles Davis and Alan Lomax. Szwed unveils tales that didn’t make Lady Sings the Blues, her classic memoir, including flings with actors Orson Welles and Charles Laughton.

St. Martin's/Griffin

004

009

I Found My Friends: The Oral History ...

I Found My Friends: The Oral History of Nirvana by Nick Soulsby (St. Martin’s/Griffin, March 31) Soulsby takes a unique approach: an oral history of Nirvana without the voices of the band. Nonetheless, this is a rich account of the tight-knit Seattle/Olympia, Wash., music scene and how the pressures of fame unraveled Kurt Cobain.

HarperCollins

005

009

Diary Of A Madman by Scarface, with B...

Diary Of A Madman by Scarface, with Benjamin Meadows-Ingram (HarperCollins, April 21) The former Geto Boy, one of Southern rap’s founding fathers, reflects on life before and after his ascent to hip-hop icon: Suicide attempts, drugs and depression are just a few of the tribulations described in grave, unflinching detail.

Simon & Schuster

006

009

Anger Is An Energy: My Life Uncensore...

Anger Is An Energy: My Life Uncensored by John Lydon (Dey Street Books, April 28) This is a companion to Lydon’s 1994 memoir, Rotten. His life is rich enough to warrant another -- the dance records, the reality show appearances, the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. reunions -- and he’s a gifted enough writer to make it a fun read.

Da Capo Press

007

009

So Many Roads: The Life And Times Of ...

So Many Roads: The Life And Times Of The Grateful Dead by David Browne (Da Capo Press, April 28) Expect a flood of books for the Dead’s 50th anniversary, but this one stands out thanks to new interviews and access to the band’s extensive archives that shed light on its origins, heyday and struggles after Jerry Garcia’s 1995 death.

Dey St.

008

009

The Underground Is Massive: How Elect...

The Underground Is Massive: How Electronic Dance Music Conquered America by Michaelangelo Matos (Dey St., April 28) Drawing early comparisons to Please Kill Me, the definitive oral history of punk, this anticipated tome argues that EDM is the last great outlaw musical subculture, with detours into everything from drugs to Daft Punk.

Little, Brown

009

009

It’s A Long Story: My Life by W...

It’s A Long Story: My Life by Willie Nelson, with David Ritz (Little, Brown, May 5) The 81-year-old legend goes all the way back, from his rocky early years in Nashville to his 1990s bankruptcy. There should be enough new tales here to satisfy fans, even if some, like toking in the White House, have the familiar feel of an old folk song.